A Shadow In Hand
by Niether
Summary: Taylor didn't think she'd ever see the day Sophia came to her looking for help, but the world is full of surprises like that. Learning to juggle that on top of managing a strip club and making sure her boss isn't murdered by a shadowy mastermind is all part of growing up in a place like Brockton Bay.


Taylor almost spit out her drink. Almost. She was a different person at the club than she was in school though. At school, she was Taylor Hebert, meek loner that no one wanted to get involved with. At the club though, she was the Hand, charismatic pimp of pimps that everyone wanted to impress. She doubted that the girl gaping in front of her was worried about impressing anyone though. Sophia had only ever wanted to hurt her, after all.

Sophia was stunned, a look of incredulity plastered across her frozen face. She needed some extra cash for various reasons, and after asking around she was pointed to the Hand, a lieutenant of one of Lung's lieutenants. A month ago Sophia would have broken the knees of anyone who even suggested working as a stripper, but certain circumstances had driven her into a corner.

She never once thought the Hand would be Taylor Hebert, the most pathetic wimp she'd ever had the displeasure of laying eyes on. The Hand was supposed to be ruthless, strong, and incredibly sexy, as befitted the mistress of strip club. The reality of Hebert sitting before her sipping some probably alcoholic cocktail belied all of those traits.

Taylor, the Hand, took another drink. Sophia showing up for an interview as her newest hire had rattled her, but she didn't to show it. She'd been operating in the ABB territory for the better part of a month now, and if she'd learned one thing, it was that weakness was punished.

"So," She began, her voice accented from speaking Japanese all day. "You think yourself to be a beautiful flower, worthy of my garden?"

Sophia almost laughed at how pretentious that sounded. _Hebert_ of all people was judging her? Sure, she knew she wasn't as pretty as say Emma, or even Charlotte, but she was still leagues above Hebert in the looks department.

"Who'd have thought," She replied instead, "repeat a lie enough and it becomes the truth. Congratulations Hebert, you're a whore."

The guards on either side of the room moved to grab her at the comment, but Taylor held up her hand and narrowed her eyes. "I'm not the one looking for a job, _Hess_." She hissed, dropping the formal speech. It was wasted on Sophia anyway.

Sophia tensed. She could have taken the guards, but not without revealing herself. The barb had stung a little, even if she pretended to brush it off. She licked her lips unconsciously. Everything was going to be fine. She was a survivor. She'd push Hebert's shit in, _again_ , leave this hole and find a job somewhere else.

Or she would have, if there was anywhere else to go, but resorting to a strip club meant she'd already run out of options. It definitely wasn't because the idea got her a little excited. What kind of pervert liked stripping in front of a crowd?

"Look, is the position open or not?" She finally scoffed, trying her best to act aloof.

Taylor cocked a brow. She didn't like the idea of seeing Sophia every week. She _really_ didn't like the idea of putting Sophia on her payroll. She _really really_ liked the idea of Sophia being her bitch though. Which she would be, given a couple weeks. A month tops.

Everyone wants something. Respect, peace, money, fame, sex, purpose. The Hand could give them all these and more. How could Sophia possibly resist?

Taylor smiled to herself. She'd already made her decision, but that was no reason to let Sophia get comfortable. She waved her hand and Sophia had moved, instantly and noisily, on top of Taylor's lap. Sophia jerked away, but Taylor caught her hand and held her in place. She tugged Sophia's arm and brought them face to face.

"Are you really sure you're cut out for this kind of work? You've never struck me as a people person." Yeah, Sophia could smell the alcohol on Taylor's breath. Was she drunk? That would explain the balls that seemed to have dropped over night.

"I'm more than good enough for whatever drunk chinks happen to wander in."

Taylor pursed her lips and gave the guards on either side of her another look, a silent command to keep their tempers in check. This was going to be harder than she thought.

ooOOoo

The next day at school was much the same as any other, Taylor made sure of it. Sophia could still hear her, ' _Act like you normally do tomorrow, neither of us would want to be found out, would we?'_

So that's what Sophia did. A sneer here, a little trip up there, a shove into the wall as she walked past. Had it been softer than normal? Taylor never realized what a terrible actor Sophia was. Emma didn't suspect a thing, but Taylor thought she saw Madison giving Sophia a few funny looks. Well, she'd give Sophia a week, Taylor decided, before she started giving her some private acting lessons. If that didn't shake Madison, well, Taylor had learned a couple ways to convince someone something wasn't all that important.

As terrible an actor Taylor may have thought her to be, Sophia should have been congratulated on not giving their secret away entirely that day. Her mind was a mess, a confusing tornado she wouldn't wish on the wickedest of witches. Thoughts of last night mixed with those of how she'd handle this on top of being a Ward and if her mother would _actually_ murder her if she found out. She paused mid shove. How would _Armsmaster_ react if he found out? How would Piggy? She followed through with the shove, maybe a little softer than intended.

Ugh. Now she felt gay. That would bother her all day.

And it did too, all that day, and the day after, and the day after, until finally Saturday came. This wan't to say the accidental carressing of her favorite victim didn't still bother her, just that the meeting with her favorite victim for strip classes bothered her magnitudes more. She tried getting out of them back when she and Taylor first met, but was firmly shut down at every turn. It had been oddly subtle at first, but Sophia wanted it to be known in no uncertain terms that she wouldn't endure that special kind of humiliation. She'd been met with Taylor firmly letting her know, in no uncertain terms, that she would.

It was awkward. It was embarrassing. Sophia wasn't religious, but it was painful on an spiritual level and, thanks to an enthusiastic demonstration from one of the more experienced girls at the shop, Sophia would never look at hand puppets the same. Altogether it wasn't a Saturday she ever wanted to remember. Sophia walked out the shop in a discreet hoodie at four O'clock sharp with a sour look on her face.

Taylor did the same, though she exited from the back, and her expression was just a little smug. While it might be childish to brag, it was policy she let her commander know about any new hires, so she felt justified in her trip.

She walked a few blocks before turning down an alley between two decrepit warehouses. Not the nicest of neighborhoods, but it was bare of either gang tags or molding bodies, so it was more than good enough for a secret base. She shoved aside a sizable wooden beam that blocked the entrance, a literal hole in the wall. Every time she came by she was tempted to use her power to get by, but that would defeat the purpose of both the beam and of having a secret base in the first place.

It didn't take her long to find the man she was looking for once inside, she only had to follow the smell of sweet curry into the next room over and there he was, a well built young man, maybe five years her senior, wearing nothing but some jeans and a tanktop. It looked like he'd recently finished the meal, because he was hunched over some books, a pained expression on his face. Taylor smiled. She'd always thought it was cute how diligent he was.

"I've got a report for you, Oku-kun."

Okuyasu started at the sound of her voice. Taylor took the opportunity to glance at the book he'd been reading. A middle school level physics book. She sighed a little. She loved how thoughtful he was, but she didn't think he was ever going understand how she used her power.

"Ah! Taylor-chan, okaerinasai. A report? Uh, about that Hess girl?" Taylor nodded and sat beside him, neatly tucking her legs beneath her. Okuyasu shifted a little.

"Um, I know you said that she's the one that… You know… But, are you sure it wasn't an accident? I just couldn't imagine someone doing that kind of thing on purpose, you know?" Okuyasu said, fiddling with his book a little. Taylor gave him the sort of look he hated, because he never knew what she was thinking when she looked like that.

Taylor tried to express something, anything. She could see Okuyasu sweating, trying to understand how she was reacting, but ever since the locker, it was getting harder and harder to feel any sort of emotion, let alone make it show on her face. She counted it an advantage at the club and even at school, to a lesser degree. Here though, all it did was widen the distance between Okuyasu and her, and she hated it as much as she could.

She shifted a little, leaning on him even more. Okuyasu didn't move away.

"Yes," she said. "I'm sure."

Okuyasu sighed abruptly, rubbing the back of his head. "Then why are you doing this? I don't get why you'd want her around."

Taylor considered his question and how to answer it. Why did she want Sophia around? It was obvious enough to her, but it took her some time to think of a way to word it so Okuyasu would understand.

"Oku-kun, if you hate someone, you want to hit them, right?"

"Yeah, of course. You gotta teach the bastard a lesson!"

"No, that's not it. It's not about teaching them anything, or at least, I'm not so generous. Why do you think _I_ would hit someone?"

"Uh, well, to hurt them?"

"That's it Oku-kun. But there's more than one way to hurt someone, isn't there? I don't need to hit Sophia to hurt her. She very proud, and she thinks she's stronger than me. Having to work under me, take orders from me, that hurts her too. Maybe more than being hit would. Get it?"

Okuyasu scratched his head. How does having a job hurt someone? Taylor would be _paying_ her. That doesn't hurt someone. He didn't understand, and he said so. Taylor just smiled fondly. She considered using him and herself as an example, but decided she'd rather he not understand at all.

She never ended up giving him a reply. Instead, she leaned closer still, giving him a kiss.

He still didn't really understand what was going on, but he'd decided he didn't need to.


End file.
